In 2008 the whole of the American economy suffered and went into a downward spin. Home prices had been over inflated through a long serious of speculation where investors were buying homes not for their safe and secure growth but because everyone was buying them and the price was skyrocketing quickly. At the time of the skyrocket almost anyone could get into a home and the sad story is that almost anyone did get into a home. Story after story of young families looking to get into a starter home and still having to pay astronomical amounts for even the most modest of housing and having to deal with suffocating monthly payments are out there. When the housing market suddenly deflated, these same young families, as well as numerous other home owner situations, were left with home assets that were not worth anywhere near where they paid for them leaving the owners with a negative equity and a huge mortgage. The concept of the short sale for the first time became a reality.

A short sale is when the homeowner does not want to entirely hurt their credit by walking away from their home and so they go ahead and sell the home at a under market price hoping to get it off of their hands quickly. If there was no lender involved, this would be a great idea, a hurting owner could quickly get rid of their home and make a buyer really happy. Banks do not want to be so taken advantage of since it is their money that is tied up in the home and until the borrower completely pays off the loan and the home, the bank will have the property as the backing to the loan.

The first thing a potential consumer should know about short sales is that they rarely close. Because of the banks reluctance to be taken advantage of, they will have a hard time accepting the sellers offer to undercut the home greatly. A bank would rather reposes the home and then sell it at the market price.

The second thing a consumer should realize is that there are specialized agents who deal with short sales. If one really does want to purchase a home that is being short sold, they should seriously consider getting a specialized agent. The specialized agent will know what amount will be accepted and which lenders are more likely to allow the short sale to go through.

Real estate agents know that there is a large market for short sales and therefore many of them have begun advertising that they will list short sales. Watch out for any agent who advertises that they specialize in short sales and then have never actually closed on one. Hire an agent who can work some serious magic and close one.

When the seller decides they are going to short sale, they are required to show a bunch of documents proving they are in dire straights. They have to show things like their W-2, their bank statements, a letter of hardship, etc. Make sure the agent listing the sell has all of these documents otherwise the deal most likely will never close.

Author Bio: Juhlin Youlien writes about homes like Fountain Hills AZ homes for sale and Paradise Valley AZ homes.

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: homes for sale, mortgage, buying a home, selling a home, loan, short salehomes for sale, mortgage, b